Defence bar hopes Senate will amend sexual assault law reforms

With MPs poised to send the Trudeau government’s controversial proposed sexual assault law reforms to the Senate with only a few changes, the defence bar is hoping its constitutional red flags will get more attention from the chamber of “sober second thought.”

On Nov. 20, the Commons Justice Committee reported Bill C-51 back to the House, including seven amendments MPs adopted Nov. 8 that leave intact most of the new admissibility requirements for records in the hands of the accused that the criminal bar has condemned...